Apple’s digital iPhone car keys could soon support these big-name vehicles

Unlock your car from your iPhone

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Appleis planning to expand its support fordigital car keysto vehicles made by Volvo, Polestar and Audi, giving more car owners the ability to unlock their vehicle simply by using their iPhone.

Although the expanded support hasn’t yet been officially announced, code hinting at it has apparently been discovered by news outletMacRumors. The site claims to have noticed the code in Apple’s Wallet app, which is used to store digital car keys.

MacRumors didn’t go into too much detail with this revelation, other than to say that “certain” cars from Volvo, Polestar and Audi would be supported.

That implies that the feature won’t be coming to every vehicle made by these companies – for one thing, cars need to include an NFC key reader, which not every model has – although we don’t yet know which specific cars will be supported.

We also don’t know when this support will be added, and it could be some time before we see these brands join Apple’s car key roster. Still, the new code does at least suggest that Apple is working on integrating these cars into the system.

How it works

Using the Wallet app to unlock your car is pretty simple and straightforward, although the exact method varies by manufacturer and model.

With your phone in your pocket, some cars unlock and start up as you approach and enter the vehicle. Others do so when you hold youriPhoneclose to the door handle or key reader. And some can also be unlocked or locked remotely from your device.

Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.

Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.

Some manufacturers even let you share your digital car keys with other users, and you can stop sharing them at any time from the Wallet app. And the feature doesn’t just run on your iPhone – if you have a compatibleApple Watch, that can also be used to lock, unlock, or start your car.

Right now, Apple’s digital car key system works with vehicles from BMW, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Kia, Lotus, Mercedes-Benz, and more. You can check which specific models are compatibleon Apple’s website.

You might also like

Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he’s learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That’s all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.

Nextbase Piqo Dash Cam review: small and light, but potent too

Royal Enfield has turned this classic WW2 bike into a next-gen EV range – and it might just take electric motorcycles mainstream

‘That was never the plan’: Arcane creators dismiss claims that the hit Netflix show was going to run for five seasons